Published: May 16, 2015
Apel carrying late Kulwicki’s name this season
2-time super late model champ in development program
By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News
SLINGER — Two-time defending super late model track champion
Steve Apel hadn’t quite given up on his dream of someday racing in NASCAR.
But believe or not, at 26 years old, it was getting close.
“It was kind of like my last year to do it,” said Apel when
asked if NASCAR was still a goal.
He made what might have been a last-ditch effort by applying
for the Alan Kulwicki Driver Development Program, which picked seven finalists
to battle for points based on on-the-track and off-thetrack performance for a
chance to earn more than $50,000.
Seven finalists would receive more than $7,700 to use as
their race budget for the 2015 season.
Apel was one of the seven national finalists and this
season, he is carrying the Kulwicki name on his race car on the track Kulwicki
used to call home.
“It means a lot,” Apel said of being in the program, which
was started in 2014 by Kulwicki’s stepmother.
It’d also mean a lot for Apel to win Sunday’s Alan Kulwicki
Memorial at Slinger Superspeedway. He has never won the event. Last year,
Lowell Bennett took the checkered flag in the race honoring the late 1992
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and Greenfield native.
“I want to put Alan’s name back in victory lane,” Apel said.
Every time the Alan Kulwicki Memorial comes around is an
emotional time for Dennis Lampman. Known as the Gentle Giant during his racing
career, Lampman used to race against Kulwicki and was friends with him.
“He was just a friend,” Lampman said. “We didn’t think of
him any other way than that.”
Kulwicki visited Lampman and his family, and often took
Lampman’s middle daughter to McDonald’s because they lived down the street from
each other. Lampman’s brother also worked with Kulwicki.
“The way he lost his life was tough,” Lampman said.
Today, having a strong financial backing, rather than pure
talent, is more important when trying to advance a career in auto racing.
There is no denying Apel has talent — he was the winner of
the last two super late model titles at Slinger. Only Kulwicki won his second
title at Slinger in the division at a younger age (23). However, financial
backing and exposure are harder to come by. That’s one of the main goals for
the Kulwicki program. The other is to advance rising young stars who may
deserve a chance to advance their careers.
Kulwicki made it to the pinnacle of NASCAR with a small
budget, often doing most of the work on his car.
But maybe in a testament to the level of racing talent in
Wisconsin, of the seven finalists, three are from Wisconsin — Apel, Ty Majeski
(Seymour) and Reagan May (DePere).
“The competition in Wisconsin is extremely difficult,” Apel
said. “Not a lot of guys and girls have a ton of money backing them. They don’t
have the big corporate sponsors. They’re mom-and-pop sponsors that just try to
get to the track.
“Down south, a lot of those guys have a ton of money. They
have the connections, they know the right people, they’re around them all the
time.”
Apel typically budgets around $30,000 per season for racing,
but doesn’t often spend that much. So a paycheck of more than $50,000 would
make a difference in his ongoing pursuit of his dream: NASCAR.
“I’ve always been a one-track kind of guy,” he said. “To put
Alan’s name on the car at Slinger again is pretty cool and keep Alan’s legacy
alive.”
Kulwicki died April 1, 1993, in a plane crash in Tennessee.
He was 38. He had five months earlier become the first owner-driver in more
than two decades to win a NASCAR championship. It’s a feat that’s only been
replicated once since (Tony Stewart in 2011). Kulwicki won the super late model
championship at Slinger in 1977 and 1978 — becoming the division’s first
two-time champion — and won the 1981 Slinger Nationals.
Kulwicki made six starts in the then-NASCAR Busch Series
between 1984 and 1985. In 1985, he made five starts in the then-NASCAR Winston
Cup Series. In 1986, he raced full time at NASCAR’s top level and won the
series’ Rookie of the Year honor. He won his first career race in 1988.
Kulwicki went on to win four more races, including two in
his championship season of 1992.
In 2002, he was inducted into the International Motorsports
Hall of Fame.
In 2012, Kulwicki was inducted into the Southeastern
Wisconsin Short Track Hall of Fame in Hartford.
“Everybody’s kind of forgotten about him,” Apel said. “He’s
been gone a long time now. This brings his name back into short-track racing.”
Having Kulwicki’s name at the track in whatever form is fun
for all the drivers at Slinger.
“That’s a cool deal,” said Brad Keith, fellow super late
driver at Slinger. “It’s a chance for someone to get their name out there. It’s
going to be really cool down the road to see some of these drivers that are in
it might see them in NASCAR.”
The other competitors in the program are: Justin Crider of
Statesville, North Carolina; Dave Farrington of Jay, Maine; Bryce Napier of
Scotts Valley, California; and Cole Williams of Sellersburg, Indiana.
Apel is the oldest of the finalists.
“I wish it would’ve been around when I was 18, 19,” Apel
said. “I think this is the last year to go out and show what we can do, not
only at Slinger, but at other tracks as well.”
“It’s really cool to be a part of it,” he added.
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